The Truth of the Matter Is
by The Brown-ie
Summary: Luna Lovegood. Ronald B. Weasley. A commentary on Muggle-Wizard relations.


Note: This story is about a relationship between a "muggle" and a wizard. It's pretty typical. Luna is the main character. Ron is mentioned out of affection. Oh, we're not anti-magic. Just trying to jog some minds.

**The Truth of the Matter Is… **_by The-Brownie and __GeckoPixie_

_Mrs. Gwendolyn Turner was a wife. Her husband was a man of respectable nature; he had a full-time job, never drank, never smoked, and was always home on time. And it didn't hurt that he was somewhat good-looking. Mr. Turner had a strong jaw and neat jet-black hair. His eyes were the most liquid and expressive brown. His voice was calm and deep. It vibrated pleasantly through the polished wood of the floor and the painted-white walls of corridors. Mr. Turner smelled of dinner-mints and aftershave. Not an unpleasant combination but a unique one that overpowered the scent of the lemon cleaner that permeated the immaculate abode. _

Luna Lovegood laid belly-down, stretched across the worn plaid sofa in her cluttered living room. Her father decorated their house with piles after piles of suspect-photo ops of the Great Threshing Romanian-Hornback, articles marked with obnoxious red marker and boxes of broken quills and empty inkbottles. Her ankles were linked, swaying with the motion of her protuberant eyes as they scanned over the contents of her latest file. Her partner, Ronald B. Weasley, left the case in Luna's care for some much needed vacation time. He was divorcing his wife of five years, Hermione Jane Granger. Ronald wanted a woman like his mother and Hermione had no aspirations to be a walking uterus or a mollycoddle.

They had been handed the case earlier that week. Aurors showed up at the Turners' residence when one of their own had illegally used magic before his muggle wife. Undercover agents lived by the strictest regulations. They went into reprimand him only to find him killed and Mrs. Turner's passive, bloodied face.

"Suspect was found at the scene…covered in blood…holding the murder weapon…typical…" Luna spoke out loud and she dribbled tea drown her throat and on her paperwork. What caused this perfect picture of housewifery "to go ape" on her husband of 12 years?

_Gwendolyn Turner was a mother of two. Her children, a boy and a girl, were as children were supposed to be: somewhat mischievous but good-natured and well meaning. She remembered them as she liked to remember them best: when they were in primary school, learning to read, write and count without their aid of their stubby fingers and toes. The boy reminded her more of herself than of her husband. He was emotional, passionate, and a perfectionist. From an early age he had created visions of his life as he thought it should be and did all he could to fulfill that image, whether it be playing football or learning to train dogs. _

_The girl was clearly Ethan's child. Her dark hair fell like a sheet around her head and her beautiful brown eyes took in all they saw hungrily. Mrs. Turner used to tease the girl, saying she could see world in her big eyes. The daughter had replied with a laugh. "Mommy, that's impossible." She had grown up gracefully and though bubbly and carefree, always seemed to carry an air of one holding a secret._

_And then one day, when her husband was at work and her children were at school, __**that**__ letter arrived. An owl. An owl flew in through an open window, upset the good china and stuck out his leg with an air of authoritativeness that bordered on just plain rude. Mrs. Turner took a moment to assess the situation. She took several deep breaths and locked eyes with her unwanted visitor. _

_**Take the goddamn letter**__, his eyes seemed to say. Mrs. Turner reached forward and snatched his parcel from his leg. The owl hooted, grabbed a biscuit and took off. Gwen sighed in relief and closed the window._

_Turner was a murderer. Or at least, that's what they think she is. Everything went routinely as it was supposed to. Husband came in from work, kissed her on the cheek and passed her his coat, hat and brief case. The children run up to him with the intention of doling out waist high hugs. Laughter was everywhere. It was a mindless, deafening happiness, the kind she enjoyed most. It was routine. After the children had been sent to get ready for bed with the promise of a story and warm milk, she decided to tell her husband about the letter._

"_Ethan, the strangest thing happened while you were at work," she began, drying the last of the dinner plates._

"_Oh?"_

"_Well, I know it sounds silly, but an owl flew in the window and delivered a letter."_

_Mr. Turner raised his eyebrows. "Did you keep the letter?" he asked._

"_Yes, it's on the table. Do you know anything about it?" Was it possible that he knew where it had come from._

_He smiled. "Perhaps a friend of ours is training carrier owls rather than pigeons." He crossed the kitchen with his confident stride and placed a loving kiss on the corner of his wife's mouth before retrieving the letter. She watched as he retreated into the den. She was as curious as she imagined he must be, but didn't call him back to the kitchen to open the letter with her. _

"So, I followed him into the other room" said Mrs. Turner. She spoke calmly for a person being restrained by a magical armchair while being interrogated by the two wizards. "And he was in shock, it seemed. He didn't respond to my calls. So, I took the letter from him and read it myself…"

"And what did it say?" ask Ronald.

"It said that our children had been accepted into a 'magic school' by the name of Hogwarts. I laughed because I thought it was a joke…but Ethan didn't. He was serious about the whole thing."

"Then what happened?"

"I called him crazy. I threatened to phone the police on him if he even dared to take my children away from me. But he insisted that this was real, that our children were magical and that they would grow up to become wizards despite my personal wishes."

"And then?"

"He told me that he was a wizard himself… Turned my favorite arm chair into a church mouse and then back again to prove it."

"And you did what after that?"

"I hit him in the head with the poker," she said very calmly. "Then I called the kids down and did the same."

--------------

"She's flippin' crazy," said Ronald by the water cooler. Luna said nothing as she swirled her water around in the complimentary plastic cup. "So, he was wizard. Big deal! No reason to go off on him like that. Muggles are crazy."

"I can understand what she did."

"W-what? How can you even begin to justify that?"

"We never give them a chance, do we? It's always a trip off to St. Mungos or a Ministry man mucking up their memories. That's why Seamus' dad took off. That's why Dean's gone into hiding for his mum's sake. That's why Merope died powerless and abandoned her only son. That's why this woman killed her loved ones. She didn't know what was real and what was not. Mr. Turner was trying to push something like that on her all of a sudden.

"People react differently when their lives have been snatched away from them and that they've been living a lie. Muggles are no exception. Mr. Turner and their children didn't deserve to die and neither does she." She downed the rest of her water in one gulp, before tossing the cup into the bin.

"You really are loony," Ron muttered as he turned to walk away. Luna followed. "Only you would stick up for someone like that."

"Isn't that how justice is supposed to work, Ronald?"

"Please. That's like saying the You-Know-Who was right to kill of those muggles like that."

"I'm not saying either side is right or wrong, Ronald. I'm saying that I can understand what drives them to madness." There debated ended when they reached their tiny cramped office, over populated with binders and notebooks, statements and status reports.

But Luna could not help but think that what she said was true. These muggle-wizard conflict cases were becoming more and more common. The division of the two worlds drove those who sought their union to insanity. Without muggles, their kind would be lost in both mind and body. But the wizarding world was old and stubborn. Nothing would change no matter how many lives were lost- present and future.

_Muggles aren't any different,_ Luna mused sadly as she reviewed Turner's statements._ Quick to kill each other and over the slightest things too._

Her thoughts quickly faded as Ron told her it was time to give Turner a visit. Lovegood stole a glance at her clock. It was evening already? She said nothing as she pushed the statements aside and fell in behind her partner's giant strides. The two walked in silence. When they reach her cell, Ron deactivated the lock on Turner's cell and pushed open the door.

"Ok, Turner, we're going to begin the second bout- W-what?!" he choked, as stepped back. Luna pushed past him, eyes knowing.

Luna Lovegood did not know what to say and only looked sympathetic. And Gwendolyn Turner's head lolled to one side, mouth agape, with a portion of her elegant tongue resting neatly on her crimsoned lap. Ron wretched, grabbing hold of the doorframe to steady himself. He brushed past Luna into the hall, yelling for assistance. Lovegood strode up to Mrs. Turner. She watched quietly as the light dissipated from her eyes.

To Luna, Gwen was just another victim.

A/N:

[1 Just assume that Harry told his close friends about his "research" with Dumbledore.


End file.
